Pride Before the Fall
by S. Sgriobhadaireachd
Summary: In another world, Morgoth wasn't the one cast into the Void at the end of the War of Wrath. (based on a Tumblr post)
**Warning:** OOC in the sense that this could literally never happen unless something changed somewhere. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible but let's face it, there would have to be a serious lapse in judgment on someone's behalf to put Sauron in the Void instead of Morgoth. I decided working through Manwë would be the best route to go. I know that he's the greatest and purest among the Valar, but I find writing purely good or purely evil characters not very engaging and wanted to introduce grayness into Morgoth and Manwë. Morgoth, for all his pride and ambition, cares for Sauron and relies on him to help him take over the world. Manwë, for all his goodness and understanding, makes mistakes and isn't always true to Eru's ways, especially when people he loves and strong emotions are involved.

In this world, Varda and Eru are extremely disappointed in him.

Let's just be thankful Eru's not willing to let something like this happen. Morgoth would tear Middle Earth apart or die trying for Manwë trying to pull a stunt like this and it would just be insanity for everyone else. I tried to walk a middle ground between the canon interpretation and the fandom interpretation of the characters and incorporate elements from my favorite interpretations into this. Interpret it how you will; I've tried to write Morgoth and Sauron's relationship so that you can choose how you want to view it (i.e. platonic or romantic).

* * *

" _Pride will always be the longest distance between two people." -_ **Unknown**

* * *

It was over. The damn war was finally over; Angband, the last stronghold of Morgoth, had been conquered and her rulers cast down from their wrought dark iron thrones before the Valar for judgment on what they had done to Middle Earth. It had cost too many lives and had left scars on the Earth that would never heal properly, not until the Second Music happened, but it was done. Sauron and Morgoth, never again to be known by their names as children of Eru and of the light, now stood for judgment before Manwe and the others.

It was like one of Morgoth's balgrogs was squeezing Aulë's heart as he witnessed his Maia (his former Maia, he reminded himself) bound in chains at the foot of Manwë and Eönwë with Varda standing like a starlight vigil behind her husband and the other Valar gathered to watch. Mairon had been twisted in ways Aulë could barely understand; the proud yet eager forge worker he had once known was now twisted into something bitter and hateful. The being before all of them bore the same face as Mairon, but he was not him. The light of Eru was gone from his eyes, replaced with a hatred and darkness that made Aulë want to weep.

( _Had he done this? Had he pushed Mairon down this path? If he had just done something, if he had just said something, if he had just noticed…)_

( _If only._ )

Yavanna's slender hand slipped comfortingly around his, squeezing gently. She knew the torment that racked his soul, the pain he experienced over the loss of his greatest Maiar and the responsibility he felt. It would be a pain that would bother him perhaps for the rest of eternity, but it was a pain she was willing to help him bear.

Another hand clapped him on the shoulder; Tulkas tried to offer him a reassuring smile, but it came across as weary and exhausted more than anything. They were all worse for wear; even Varda was exhausted and bore wounds from the fighting. But they had won and that's what counted. He tried to smile back, but it came across as even worse than Tulkas' smile.

Manwë was speaking to Morgoth and Sauron, but Aulë barely heard over the pain in his heart.

( _If only he had known then what he knew now. Maybe he could have prevented this._ )

* * *

Manwë had never gotten along with Morgoth, even in the beginning when the light of their Father still shone through him and when he had been known by another name. Their natures were so different, their ideas and dreams so different from the other's. He was happiest when following Eru's music and promoting his Father's work; Melkor had only been happy when he had caused discord and disobeyed every rule laid by Eru. It never ceased to bother him and it had been a continual source of anger and pain throughout the centuries as they only clashed more and more.

If anything, Manwë had been wondering when something like this would happen. His brother had dabbled too much in the darkness to resist its call, despite their pleas for him not to and repeated attempts to forgive him and bring him back to them. He hated to say it, but in some ways, he hadn't been surprised when Morgoth started causing problems. He was less surprised when war finally came to Middle Earth and they were summoned to fight for the light.

The true source of surprise had been Sauron.

Varda had seen this coming; she had sensed a darkness among the Maiar, growing like an ugly weed in the darkness with roots so deep they couldn't be completely destroyed. But that darkness had been cleverly hidden even from her eyes and she hadn't been able to see who was infected. Perhaps they had all been too distracted by Morgoth and the chaos he wrought on the world to notice one of their own servants, one of the greatest and brightest, falling into the darkness.

He wondered why Eru hadn't told them, hadn't warned them to try and help Mairon more and keep this from happening. Maybe this could have been avoided.

( _He had warned them, but they hadn't listened to the soft urges, the quiet words, the simple gestures they could have shown. Perhaps they too had been blinded by their pride until it was too late_.)

But it couldn't be changed now. Mairon and Melkor had both made choices they wouldn't come back from; perhaps if they were truly repentant, things could be corrected and old hurts soothed away. But he knew staring into those dark eyes of Angband's leaders that that wouldn't happen. They would not return to the light and nothing any of them would do could change that.

Now the proper punishment had to be employed, one to balance out the scales of the universe again. And he would be the one to dole the punishments, even if it cut his heart to do this to some of the greatest of their own.

( _They deserved it, he reminded himself. They brought this on themselves. They made this choice._ )

"Morgoth of Angband and his lieutenant, Sauron: you have been defeated in combat and your forces destroyed. The darkness you have wrought on this world will be banished and the light of Eru returned to its proper glory." His words rang out across the ghostly area, echoing strangely off the black door in front of him. Neither of them flinched, but he noticed a slight tension in their shoulders that hadn't been there before. "Because you have chosen this path and chosen to inflict this on yourselves, the affixed consequences must be carried out. You have corrupted this world and destroyed the Two Trees, purging the great light of Middle Earth. The silmarils have been lost and many have been lost in the great strife over them. You have defied Eru despite all you have known and been given and refuse to return to the light. Because of the darkness you will bring to this world, you cannot remain."

He saw the realization in Morgoth's eyes first, the realization of what Manwë meant. He did not sag in acceptance of his fate but remained upright and determined to face this with pride. Sauron took a little longer to realize what he meant, as he had not dabbled in the void like Morgoth had, but something flashed through his eyes too quick for Manwë to truly comprehend what had happened. He would have to ask Varda later about it.

"You will be cast into the darkness beyond this world, where you will be stripped of your powers and unable to harm the inhabitants of this world again. You will lose your form and your glory, becoming less than the dust of the earth."

Again, no reaction from the two in chains before him, war torn and darkness seeping from their very essences, but he could sense the uneasy stirrings of the Valar around him at the thought of losing so much.

( _What was it like to be so far gone and so far down such a dark road to not care about things like losing one's body and connection to Eru? He wondered because he did not understand._ )

"This is your fate for the rest of eternity and beyond. Do you understand?" He spoke firmly and without betraying the shifting feelings inside of him.

Sauron did not speak but deferred to his commander, casting a glance at him. He looked for a moment like the Mairon Manwë had remembered seeing, bright-eyed and creative in the forges. But it was gone the next second later.

Morgoth stared straight into Manwë's eyes, staring back at his brother with no fear or anxiety. It was like staring into a great abyss, one that was so deep and wide it threatened to swallow you whole just by looking at it. It was unnerving but Manwë refused to be intimidated. Morgoth had no more power.

"I understand." There was no inflection of Morgoth's tone, nothing to indicate anything the great betrayer was thinking. But Manwë could almost hear the smugness in his tone, the smugness of being the one thing in the world Manwë and Eru couldn't control and would never be able to control. The last spark of defiance between them, the last fight before Morgoth went into the void.

For who else would go into the Void? He was the Great Betrayer, the One Who Had Turned from the Light. He would pay the punishment and he would do so with as much dignity as he could have in a situation like this. He would return, like had before. He will use Manwë's mercy to come again and cause more death and pain.

 _You are mistaken, brother._ This time, Manwë had the upper hand. He would not be bested or tricked by Morgoth anymore again like he had before.

( _He could feel a sense of warning in his heart, like a father's palm pressed in urging against an errant son's shoulder. A pleading caution not to make the wrong choice, to not listen to his anger or his pride. Or perhaps that was Varda, laying her hand on his shoulder in silent warning and pleading to her husband. Maybe it was both._ )

( _He ignored it._ )

"Then let it be heard and witnessed by the Valar and Maiar present that as punishment for inciting rebellion against Eru and all that you once stood for, you and your lieutenant will be torn asunder, never to gather strength together again." He wasn't blind; he knew how critical they were to each other. How each had seduced the other into their strange game until the darkness had bound them so tightly they could not and would not be released. They drew strength from each other and always would if allowed to do so. "One shall be cast into the Void, the other chained within the Halls of Mandos for the rest of the Ages of this world. Reside in the Void beyond the world, Sauron of Angband, and become the dark spirit you are, even as Morgoth will carry the burden of his choices in this world for eternity."

For one moment, a moment that seemed both fleeting and infinite, he saw true shock cross both of their faces. There was horror in there, horror at being separated and horror at what Manwë had just declared. He did not know if Sauron was afraid of being a bodiless form or if he was just afraid of being alone; either way, it didn't matter. Morgoth had to be punished, and if this was the way to get it through his thick head, then so be it. He wouldn't learn if he was the one going into the Void. He would bear it like a martyr, using it to fuel whatever insane thoughts lurked in his mind.

"It has been decided." He spoke again over the shocked gasps and murmured words from the Valar and Maiar around them. Varda's hand had withdrawn from his shoulder and a deep sense of disappointment struck him.

 _Oh, my son,_ he could almost hear Eru whispering in his ear. _What have you done?_

* * *

He must have heard it wrong. There was no logical reason for him to be going into the Void while the stronger and more dangerous of the two of them remained in this world with form and powers.

It didn't make _sense_.

Sauron, and when he had been Mairon, had lived to understand the world around him. And he had been, and still was, damn good at it. He knew how people thought and he used to his advantage. Everything had been planned for during the War and he had been ready for this fate from the moment the irons had been clapped on him with Eöwnë and Ilmarë staring down at him with a deep sadness in their eyes. He knew how Manwë thought and he knew how the punishments would go.

This shouldn't be happening.

He almost didn't register Morgoth struggling next to him, an edge of true fear written into the movements. Their relationship, while not as intimate as some of the Valar presumed, was still vital to the other and was not something Morgoth or he intended to surrender lightly. They needed the other; they were the ones who understood each other, the other pillar holding up their world and their visions.

( _Morgoth wasn't capable of love the same way he and the other Valar were, the way Mairon had once been. Something in his nature made it near impossible; yet still Sauron stayed, still worshipped him and his cause. The madness the silmarils had brought on Morgoth only made it worse when it came to love and loyalty, but still he had stayed. Where else would he go but with the one who truly understood him?_ )

He should be saying something, something brave and comforting to his lord and spiteful to those he had once considered allies. A good lieutenant and faithful servant would do that. But he couldn't seem to get past the shock that had set in, freezing his mind and bones in place.

 _This shouldn't be happening_.

"Let the doors be opened, that they may take their offering and the punishment enacted." Manwë called out, eyes cold and distant as he stared at them. He never seemed more the King of the Valar than he did now. "You have made your choices. You will now pay the price."

He sensed more than saw or heard the doors open behind him. A chill, deeper than anything he had ever felt in his life, poured through him. It wrapped around him, sucking the light and warmth out.

Morgoth's struggles next to him broke Sauron out of his sudden stupor. Arms and hands held the struggling warlord back as he stared at his lieutenant with wide eyes, a dozen emotions flashing through them. He was too proud to voice any of his desperate thoughts with so many of his enemies present (he rarely did so even in the safety of Angband with just Sauron around) but he could see it in the way he fought against the Valar and Maiar.

( _Even bound, maimed and scarred, Morgoth was still so powerful and dangerous. It truly amazed him how powerful of a master he served, a being so powerful it took all of the hosts of Eru just to bring him to his knees._ )

"I will wait," he spoke, voice carrying none of the tremor in his soul as he stared at Morgoth, who had stopped struggling to listen. He had near perfected the ability to mask his true thoughts. "I will wait for you beyond the Void, my Lord. I will wait for the doors to open and for us to again bring our cause into the world. They cannot take that from me."

( _Because they were not evil. Why did they not understand that they were trying to fix this? The discord in the music had to be fixed, like a flaw in the metal. The agency Eru had given to His creations was the source of the discord and he would fix it. Like he always did._ )

Morgoth didn't answer; he just stared. Surprise, fear and more than a little pride for his lieutenant reflected back at him. He thought for a moment Morgoth would say something back, his mouth twitched and he thought he heard an intake of breath from his master, but the cold of the Void returned again like frozen metal being pressed against his flesh and all thoughts fled. Something pulled him in, wrapping around him like bands of steel and yanking him into the dark depths of the Void.

The last thing he saw before the Doors shut around him was Morgoth's horrified face, twisted in an expression of murderous rage at his brother such as he had never seen before, before all light and sensation fled.


End file.
